


Of Stone and Shadows

by SwissArmyGnat



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Flashbacks, Gen, Horror, Idk you have to piece it all together, Learn from horror movies ppl, Lovecraftian, Short Story, flash forwards?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 07:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17421440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwissArmyGnat/pseuds/SwissArmyGnat
Summary: Thea Chavez is going on vacation with her friends to Vermont, even though she loathes skiing and the cold. However, there appears to be local superstition about the house they're staying, something feels... off to Thea. Discoveries regarding the history of the town turn a light vacation dark, and full of mystery and danger





	Of Stone and Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Note that I'm pretty sure I made up the town of Hastor, Vermont, I googled it and didn't get any results, and it's been a while since I wrote this story so yeah. This is greatly inspired by H. P. Lovecraft and does borrow a few elements from him.

_‘If you are reading this, it is too late for me…’ You hurriedly scribble down your message, your story, on the scraps of paper you found in the dusty room. The wardrobe that was blocking the door had finally stopped rattling. But you knew, it was only a matter of time before it began again, and the Thing would try again to get into the room. Your only hope was out the window and into the forest, to get away fast, and hope the being left you alone, and continue to stalk the empty corridors of the house. The dresser began rattling again and your breathing grew heavier as the scribbling became faster. Only a few minutes left, only a few minutes till midnight…_

You knew it was a mistake as soon as you accepted your friends’ invitation to their house up in Vermont to go skiing. You didn’t even like skiing, and you hated the cold. But with three of your best friends going, and the other two off to visit their grandparents up in Michigan, you didn’t have many options in terms of entertainment for the break. Well, you did, but your parents were always pressuring you to go out more instead of staying inside all day, reading and playing video games, so they jumped on the opportunity to send you to Vermont with your friends, even though they knew you couldn’t ski and loathed the cold with a passion. They didn’t care, they just wanted you out of the house, for you to go interact with other people, despite your arguments that you interacted with your friends all the time. But those interactions apparently didn’t count, so off you were to Hastor, Vermont for a week. The trip was easy enough, with Wyatt’s mom driving, his dad in the front seat, Wyatt, Levi and yourself in the back seat, and Wyatt’s twin sister, Temple, in the very back seat. Since you had woken up promptly at 6:00 am to get on the road as soon as possible, you were exhausted, and plugged your earbuds into your phone, turned on your music, and tried to get some sleep.  
You must’ve fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing you knew, Levi was shaking you awake, announcing, “We’re here!” Here was an old, ancient even, stone house, settled in the shadow of a mountain and surrounded by tall and dark woods. The house, made of dark grey stone, was fairly large, with a slightly discolored red gable roof, and a large wrap around porch made of some type of dark wood framing the front. It had the type of shutters you would see in a horror movie, dark, slatted, framing windows that showed only the dark interior of the house. As you and the others trudged up the gravel driveway to the house, dragging your suitcases behind you, a sudden gust of wind blew over you, chilling you to the bone and causing you to shudder. As you did, you briefly glanced up at the topmost window and did a double take. Not even a second ago, you could’ve sworn there was a dark figure staring down at you from the window, but now, there was nothing. You turned to look at the others, but they didn’t say anything, not even Temple, who hated the cold just as much as you did, and was not afraid to vocalize it. It was as if there was something here, a presence already inside the empty house. You shook your head and gathered your thoughts together. ‘You’re just tired and imagining things. It’s Vermont, it’s cold here. And it was probably your imagination or a trick of the light. There’s nothing in that house. Besides, if you mention it to Wyatt, Levi, or even Temple, they’ll probably brush you off and say you’ve been reading too much Lovecraft again.’  
You did have an extreme fondness for H.P. Lovecraft, and your friends often teased you, saying that you were obsessed with him, and would marry him if you could. You just shrugged off their jokes, not bothered by it. Everyone had their own passion, Levi was obsessed with soccer, or football as he was constantly correcting everyone, Wyatt loved action movies and comic books, and you adored Lovecraft and history. But this house was giving you bad vibes, no matter what genre of books you liked to read. If only you had known what was to go down in this house, you would have never left your house.

_You ran up the stairs, Temple’s hand firmly wrapped around your wrist, dragging you with her down the hallway. You could hear the sounds of vases shattering and wood splintering downstairs, and the walls were rattling so violently that the paints and photos were falling off the wall and striking the floor, glass splintering and falling from their frames._  
“Hurry, hurry! In back, there’s a ladder attached to the house, if we can get down it, we can grab the RV out of the garage and get into town! There’s no way this thing can leave the house!”  
“But what about Wyatt, Levi and your parents?! What will happen to them if they come back?!” You asked, panting as the two of you skidded around another corner, the house vibrating disturbingly again, shaking so hard you lost your balance and slipped on a rug, tumbling down to the ground, taking Temple with you. You hauled yourself up and grabbed her hand, sprinting through the maze of hallways to reach the back of the house.  
“We can call them when we reach town! Plus, didn’t you hear the windows break? There’s no way they’ll be coming inside without calling the police first.”  
“But what if they don’t believe us?” What if they just laughed it off and thought it was all a big prank?  
“We’ll deal with that when we get to that point. Look, there! That’s the red room! Hurry!” 

After getting inside, the four of you went upstairs to pick out your rooms. There were plenty of them, an excess amount in your opinion. You picked out a green room with a queen sized bed covered in emerald green sheets. The furniture in the room appeared to be made out of mahogany, and was also decorated with green accents. There was a desk with a chair that had green cushions, a heavy, ancient looking dresser that had green glass knobs, and the floor of the room was covered in plush green carpeting. Your favorite color was green, but making the whole room green was just a little excessive, you decided. It reminded you of ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ by Edgar Allan Poe, where each room, except the last, had a matching color theme. Just then, Temple knocked on your open door, leaning on the frame as she examined your room.  
“Huh, so your room is like this too?” She said, rapping her knuckles on the dresser.  
“What do you mean ‘my room is like this too’?” You asked, looking up at her after placing your suitcase on the bed.  
“Here, come look at mine.” You followed her to the room next to yours, the boys having picked the two rooms across from yours, their doors only opened a crack so you couldn’t see inside, but you could hear them shuffling around.. The master suit was just down the hall, where Wyatt and Temple’s parents would be sleeping. Stepping into Temple’s room, you could see what she meant. Her room was almost exactly like yours, except instead of everything being emerald green, everything was sapphire blue, the sheets, carpet, everything.  
“Well, this is a little… odd.” You stated, ignoring the look Temple gave you that said ‘obviously!’ “I wonder if the boys’ rooms are like this too”  
“Well, why don’t you go look?” Temple said, heading towards her suitcase, which she had also placed on her bed. “I’m unpacking. This place is freezing, I need another jacket” Shaking your head, you headed back to your room to unpack as well.  
“You guys can finish unpacking later, right now we’re heading to the grocery store to pick up supplies. Hurry up and come down.” Mrs. Lain called from the bottom of the staircase. You tossed the shirts in your hand down on the bed, grabbed your shoes and ran downstairs. Wyatt was already downstairs, standing right at the bottom of the stairs, causing you to almost barrel into him.  
“Woah, slow down, are you trying to run over me? I didn’t know the grocery store was so exciting.” He said, grabbing the railing and your upper arm at the same time to stop the both of you from getting up close and personal with the floor. The attempt ended up being futile when Levi barreled down the stairs and crashed into the both of you, sending all three of you to the floor in a dogpile. You raised your head to the sound of a phone camera going off to see Wyatt’s twin standing at the top of the steps with her camera up.  
“DON’T YOU DARE!” You scream as you push Levi’s face away and launch yourself out of the pile of limbs, almost crashing face first into an armchair as you do so.  
“Kids, hurry up!”

“So, where’re you guys stayin?” The lady ringing up their groceries asked.  
“We’re staying in the stone house, the one up by the mountain.” Mrs. Lain answered, pulling her credit card out of her wallet. The lady’s face paled dramatically and she hurried to finish scanning our stuff.  
“That house?” You turned around to see an old man wearing a faded t-shirt, faded ball cap and worn out denim jeans and jacket looking at them suspiciously. Mrs. Lain seemed surprised at the reaction and nodded, handing her card over to the lady.  
“Yes, that house. Why do you ask?” She asked curiously.  
“No good ever came to people stayin’ in that house. People say it’s cursed, been so since the beginning. If I were you, I would get out as soon as possible. Mark my words, nothin’ good ever came to those who stayed there.” With those words, he turned and walked out of the store, getting in an old rust and blue pickup truck and driving off.  
“He’s right, you know,” The lady said quietly, handing back the card, which was tucked back into a wallet and shoved in a purse. “Everyone in town knows that somethin’s not right with that house. And… with the people there… well, nothing good ever came from staying there.” With that, she called up the next customer, and everyone left the store feeling confused, and you feel even more wary of returning to the house.

_“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING?!?” Temple screamed as you both ran out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind you._  
“HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?” You screamed back as you grabbed a chair and jammed it under the doorknob as you had seen in the movies. Funny how most of the stuff in the movies tended to work in situations like this, you thought to yourself, trying to suppress the hysterical laughter that threatened to bubble out of your throat. “Maybe it’s the ghost of Donald Trump’s hair or the NSA trying to get us for making all those microwave jokes.”  
“Okay Thea, we all know you have an amazing sense of humor, but now is not the time for jokes!” Temple replied, stepping back from the door as the two of you retreated to the living room, making sure that you could see the edge of the door around the corner as you sat down and Temple began to pace.  
“This is freaking great, Mom and Dad are stuck at the damn lodge, the phone lines are down, and we’re stuck in a goddamn haunted house, and I’m hungry. You didn’t happen to grab anything from the kitchen before that… thing came up from the cellar did you?” She rushed out, looking over to where you were rummaging through a bag you had grabbed from the kitchen.  
“Yeah, I grabbed this. I think I also might’ve hit it with this, so that’s not helping our situation any. But I got pop tarts,” Those you passed to her, “Candles, sage?” The weird bundle of wrapped herbs you placed on a side table, “Salt, apple juice and matches. So at least we can pocket sand the thing. Or at least pocket salt the thing.” This earned you a raised eyebrow.  
“Hey, isn’t salt supposed to repel ghosts or whatever?” Temple asked, shoving the remains of her pop tart down her throat before reaching over to grab the container.

Temple wasn’t much of a skier either, and since you were the only two girls, you decided to do something together while the boys and her parents went skiing. You decided on the library since Temple needed to do a history project over break, and you were more than willing to help her, being a huge history lover yourself. Her parents dropped you off at the surprisingly large library before heading off to the slopes with Wyatt and Levi. Temple’s project required writing a five-page paper on a historical place in the United States. You suggested New Orleans and Temple agreed, gladly picking your brain for all the information you had while scribbling down notes on a piece of paper, and then headed over to the ancient looking computer to get some online sources and find a few books. While she was doing that, you decided to wander around the library, which was fairly big considering Hastor wasn’t all that big of a town. You ended up in the archives and began picking through the various newspaper articles, trying to find something interesting to read. Your definition of interesting was a bit odd, but hey, to each their own.  
You discovered that there had been an asylum in Hastor, called Innsmouth Asylum, apparently named after the Lady of Innsmouth, the wife of a wealthy merchant who owned a shipping company, and a fleet of merchant ships that sailed up and down the Connecticut River. They had apparently moved to Vermont from Innsmouth, Massachusetts, hence their name. When he died, she apparently took over the business, which was unheard of at the time, and the business flourished more than ever. She then generously donated enough money for an asylum to be built right outside of the town. According to the newspapers, there were rumors that she had the asylum built so she could get rid of her insane and unstable son, who apparently had been heard screaming and wailing at all hours of the night for years. After the asylum was built, however, the screaming stopped, with some theorizing that he was lobotomized, and others thinking that the staff was paid by the lady herself to kill her son. Whatever the reason, there was no grave for him, and the Lady died only two years later, in 1826, under mysterious circumstances, at the age of 42. The asylum, however, was destroyed during a hurricane in 1895, and was never rebuilt, with the rubble cleared away and the land sold to new owners, who build a house on the plot in 1909. As you tracked down the history through the newspapers throughout the years, you finally came upon a picture of the house, and your blood froze. It was the same exact house that you were currently staying in. And according to several more reports from various newspapers throughout the 20th century, the house was rumored to be haunted, with strange happenings going on, and even people disappearing from the house without a trace. In one baffling case, an entire family, the mother, father and three-year-old daughter, all disappeared on the night of November 1st, 1939. Their bodies were never found, but the house was perfectly intact, with the doors locked, windows shut, and all their possessions still in place. They were discovered missing after their housekeeper showed up the next morning to uncover the empty house, beds rumpled as if those sleeping in them had rushed out of bed in a hurry, and mysterious black marks marring the walls throughout the house. After a week of investigating, the police had come to no conclusion, and the house was put up for sale after that. You couldn’t find any more articles referring to the house after that year, so you decided to call Temple over to show her your findings.  
“Hey Temple, come over here, you might want to look at this.” You called quietly, wincing when it echoed in the empty library. Temple stuck her head out from behind a bookcase, eyebrows raised.  
“What’s up?” She asked, walking around the bookcase and towards you with a few books in her arms, setting them down at the edge of the table where you had spread out all the newspapers. You gestured to them, leaning back in your chair.  
“Look at what I found.” You sat there silently, watching her as she read the articles, eyes growing wider and wider with each page turn. After she had closed the last newspaper, she collapsed into a chair beside you and turned to you.  
“So… our house is called Sothoth?” She asked you.  
“Out of all the things to gather from these articles, that’s what you pick up on? Not the creepy disappearance, the fact that the land your house stands on once held an insane asylum, the fact that it’s rumored that this Lady of Innsmouth donated the money for the asylum for the sole purpose of getting rid of her son?” You asked incredulously. Maybe you were overreacting a bit, you thought. Or turning into one of those insane conspiracy theorists that wore tinfoil hats so the government couldn’t read their minds with satellites, or whatever.  
“No, no, I get what you’re saying, and I agree, this is creepy as hell. Just as creepy as that damn house. You know, I didn’t tell anyone this, but when we were walking up the driveway, I felt this chill down my spine, and I could’ve sworn I saw someone in the attic window, but it must’ve been a trick of the light, right? Or maybe bats?” She sounded almost hopeful at that.  
“It wasn’t a trick of the light. I saw it too.” You say, and watch as her face pales dramatically. “I thought I was just seeing things, but I didn’t want to ask you guys in case you thought I was crazy or something.” Right then, Temple’s cell phone went off, causing the librarian walking by to give her a dirty look as she answered it. Temple heaved a sigh of relief, shot me a glance, then answered it.  
“Hey Mom, what’s up? Wait, what do you mean? No, there’s nothing going on here… Thea and I are still at the library… yes, we can walk up to the house… when do you think you’ll be back? … That long?!? It can’t be that bad! How can we stay alone for two days?!” You looked at her, confused, but she just held up a finger, continuing to talk on the phone, albeit slightly quieter after the librarian walked past them again, still glaring. You pulled a face at her back and turned back to your friend as she shoved her phone back in her pocket, turning to face you.  
“Apparently, as soon as they arrived at the ski lodge, a huge avalanche hit, and Mom said that the lodge staff told them they won’t be able to leave for two days. So, looks like it’s just us at ‘Sothoth’. Jeez, what a stupid and creepy name. Anyway, we’re going to have to walk back, so let’s just get these books and go.”  
“You sure you don’t want to stay longer? I don’t know if the house has wifi.” You asked her when the truth was that you didn’t want to go back to the house just yet. After reading all that, and Temple’s confession, you were more than a little freaked out. You also were remembering what the old man and the grocery clerk had said, and your skin broke out in goosebumps, despite the fact that the library was comfortably warm, and you were wearing a sweatshirt and had a jacket.  
“No, it’s best if we get going. Plus, if it doesn’t have wifi, I can just take notes and hand write it for now, then come back here later to type it.” Temple grabbed the books and went to the front desk, while you gathered the newspapers and put them back. When you walked up to the front desk, Temple was talking to the librarian while filling out a library card form.  
“If you’re leaving at the end of the week, I expect these books back by then.” The librarian said, stamping said books as she did so. She peered up at us through her glasses. “Where did you say you were staying again?”  
“The house up by the mountain, apparently it’s called Sothoth?” Temple said as she continued to fill out the form. You saw the librarian start suddenly, and duck beneath the desk quickly before straightening up and shoving a large yellow envelope at them and taking the form from Temple, before hurriedly shoving a card at her.  
“If you don’t have time to return the books, just please place them in this envelope and put them in the mailbox. If we don’t hear from you at the end of the week, someone will go up there to collect them. Have a good day!” With that, the librarian hurried away, grabbing a pile of papers and retreating to the office behind her, shutting the door firmly. You glanced at your friend, who looked back at you, before hurriedly slipping the books into the envelope and slipping that into the messenger bag she had brought with her. The both of you stepped out into the crisp air, and you wrapped your green bomber jacket closer around you as you began to walk silently towards the house on the hill.

_Together, the both of you manage to shove the heavy dresser in front of the door. You both took a second to rest, panting, before rushing over to the window, trying to pry it up._  
“You know, I’m not even going to question why there’s a ladder here, I’m just going with it,” You say as you fumble with the rusted latch on the window.  
“Yeah, good idea,” Temple panted as she tried to pry the window open. “This isn’t going to work, we’re going to have to break the window.” You start to look around the room for something heavy enough to shatter the glass when the dresser starts to rattle.  
“Shit, we’re out of time, stand back!” You say as you grab a hand mirror off the desk, before turning back and swinging it as hard as you can at the window. As the glass shatters, the dresser momentarily stops moving before it begins rattling with even more vigor. Temple grabs a sheet off the bed and throws it over the window ledge, handing you the bag before beginning the climb down, you keeping an eye on the dresser as you drop the hand mirror, ignoring the clank, and grab the salt, sage and matches, placing the salt on the window sill as you strike a match.  
“Almost there!” Temple calls, nearly slipping as the fire escape groans alarmingly. You don’t have any time to answer as the door was smashed, causing the dresser to fall. 

By the time the two of you reach the house, you’re both freezing and tired. You go up to your room and change your clothes, grabbing a deck of cards and your bomber jacket before heading downstairs again. Temple is already there, lounging in a hoodie and sweatpants, reading a book with a notebook sitting on the couch beside her. You drag the coffee table towards you before sitting in one of the large, plush armchairs, before taking the deck of cards out of your pockets. You remove the two jokers and begin shuffling the cards, preparing to play a game of solitaire. For awhile, the only sounds were those of pages turning, the scratching of a pencil on paper, the click of your nails on the wooden table and the flipping and slapping sounds the cards made as you played your game. Suddenly, Temple’s stomach rumbled, loudly. There was a pause as your eyes met, and then the two of you began laughing hysterically. When you settled down, wiping tears from your eyes, you glance towards the kitchen, then back at Temple.  
“Wanna go see what we can make for dinner?” You ask, pushing the coffee table aside before standing up, placing your hands against your lower back before leaning back, listening to the pops your spine made. Temple marked her page and stood as well, cracking her knuckles and stretching her hands out.  
“Sure, let’s go.” The two of you went to the kitchen and rummaged around the bags, taking out various things and placing them on the table.  
“Hey, look, this must be the door to the cellar. Wanna go take a look?” Temple asked, opening the door, it’s hinges moaning hideously, showing that it hadn’t been opened in a long time.  
“You know, in a horror movie, the dumb people always go down in the dark basement…”  
“Cellar”  
“...And then meet the dude who is trying to kill them. So yeah no, I don’t wanna go take a look.” You finish, trying to find the bars of chocolate among the bags.  
“Oh come oooooooon Thea, you’re so boring. Killjoy.” Temple whined, sticking her tongue out at me.  
“Oh yeah, real mature. Plus, it’s the killjoys who survive the horror movies. Plus, it’s dark down there, and there’s probably a bunch of spiders and bugs and I absolutely hate spiders. I loathe them. Freaking creepy and nasty.” You shudder dramatically.  
“Well, you’re coming with me whether you want to or not.” She declared, grabbing your wrist and pushing you down the stairs, almost causing you to actually trip down the stairs before you grab the railing and steady yourself, glaring up at the other girl who was following you down, her phone’s flashlight on. You sighed as she went past you and followed her, slightly curious yourself about what was down here. You were also more than a little scared, and praying to whatever deities were out there that there were no bodies or serial killers down here. Lucky for you, someone must have been listening, because you found neither, only mountains of dust, cobwebs, and boxes.  
“What’s up with all the boxes?” You ask, walking over to the closest one, nervousness temporarily forgotten. The top was covered in dust, and as you opened it, it billowed in your face, making you cough, eyes watering as you waved your hands in front of your face, trying to get rid of it. Temple laughed as she turned around, looking at the boxes nearby, but not venturing any further into the cellar. You peer into the box and stiffen up.  
“Hey, Temp, come here, you need to get a look at this.” She looked up from a old trunk buried beneath several boxes and walked over, shining the light in. You could feel her tense up beside you. Inside the box was a bunch of children's toys, old blocks painted colorfully, made of cracked and rotting wood, porcelain dolls with creepy, unblinking eyes, and toy cars and trains made of rusting metal. What was perhaps the worst thing in the box, however, was the doll at the very top. She was once beautiful, porcelain skin, blue eyes, blond hair, dressed in a white and blue dress and hat. However, her face had been severely damaged, the left side caved in, hair matted, and the dress ripped and covered with some kind of rusty brown stain.  
“Please tell me that’s not… that’s not blood.” Temp stuttered, backing away from the box as you stared into the single blue eye left. Suddenly, a terrible roar, as if a T-Rex had been released in the basement sounded, causing the both of you to scream and bolt for the stairs, pounding up them before slamming the door shut, Temple sliding the deadbolt in place before turning to you, wide eyed.  
“What in the hell was that?” She asked, but you had no answers, only staring back at her and shaking your head back and forth. The door began to rattle, like something was trying to open it from the other side. You both backed away, eyes wide, and you accidentally hit the table, grabbing onto the plastic bag that threaten to tumble to the ground. At the noise, the door stilled before bursting open, the same terrible roar splitting the air again. Screaming once again, you bolted for the door, unfortunately this time, you managed to get a glimpse of whatever it was before you slammed the door in its… face? It was dark, as if it was made of shadows. It was fairly human shaped, albeit with a long, skeletal body, stretched limbs, a giraffe like neck, at the end of which a misshapen head hung, as if it was too heavy for its body to hold, giving it a hunched back look. And as far as you knew, you had accidentally smacked it with the bag you had grabbed off the table. Everything from there seemed to flash before your eyes.

_“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING?!?” Temple screamed as you both ran out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind you.  
“HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?” You screamed back as you grabbed a chair and jammed it under the doorknob, like you had seen in the movies._

_You ran up the stairs, Temple’s hand firmly wrapped around your wrist, dragging you with her down the hallway. You could hear the sounds of vases shattering and wood splintering downstairs, and the walls were rattling so violently that the paints and photos were falling off the wall and striking the floor, glass splintering and falling from their frames.  
“Hurry, hurry! In back, there’s a ladder, if we can get down it, we can grab the RV out of the garage and get into town!”_

_Together, both of you manage to shove the heavy dresser in front of the door. You both took a second to rest, panting, before rushing over to the window, trying to pry it up._  
“You know, I’m not even going to question why there’s a fire escape here, I’m just going with it,” You say as you fumble with the rusted latch on the window.  
“Yeah, good idea,” Temple panted as she tried to pry the window open. “This isn’t going to work, we’re going to have to break the window.” You start to look around the room for something heavy enough to shatter the glass when the dresser starts to rattle.  
“Shit, we’re out of time, stand back!” You grabbed a hand mirror off the desk, before turning back and swinging it as hard as you could at the window. As the glass shattered, the dresser momentarily stops moving before it begins rattling with even more vigor. Temple grabs a sheet off the bed and throws it over the window ledge, handing you the bag before beginning the climb down, you keeping an eye on the dresser as you drop the hand mirror, ignoring the clank, and grab the salt, sage and matches, placing the salt on the window sill as you strike a match.  
“Almost there!” Temple calls, nearly slipping as the fire escape groans alarmingly. You don’t have any time to answer as the door ruptured, causing the dresser to fall. 

“Go, GO!” You screamed at Temple as you lit the sage, heavy, potent smoke pouring from the plant, before hefting and lobbing it at the Thing like a makeshift grenade. It must’ve done something because it releases a bloodcurdling scream as it stumbled back out of the room. You grabbed the salt and mirror and glanced down at Temple, who was on the ground.  
“Run, I’ll catch up!” You yelled as you threw the bag at the open doorway, the only idea you had at the moment, before maneuvering your body out the window. The bag must’ve not deterred it for long, nor the sage, cause the next thing you knew, the glass over your head shattered and the fire escape collapsed, causing you to shriek and jerk backward, falling into the room. You heard Temple scream, but with your blood rushing in your ears, fight or flight kicked in and you scrambled for the door, leaping over the dresser and sprinting down the hall. The sound of heavy thumping behind you didn’t even make you look around as you sprinted around a corner, you just threw the mirror in the general direction of the noise and ran up the stairs to the attic, sprinkling the salt as you went. Smashing the door shut behind you, you looked wildly around at the dark space for something to block the door. Spotting a wardrobe, you wiggled behind it and began pushing, adrenaline pumping through your body. With a crash, the wardrobe fell, blocking the door, and you poured the remaining salt over it, and into the small space between it and the door, hoping that the old legend was true. You ran over to a desk, grabbing wildly at the fountain pen and paper sitting on there.

_‘If you are reading this, it is too late for me…’ You hurriedly scribble down your message, your story, on the scraps of paper you found in the dusty room. The wardrobe blocking the door had stopped rattling, but you knew it was only a matter of time before it began again, and the Thing would try again to get into the room. Your only hope was out the window and into the forest, to get away fast, and hope the being left you alone, and continue to stalk the empty corridors of the house. The dresser began rattling again and your breathing grew heavier as the scribbling became faster. Only a few minutes left, only a few minutes till midnight… The huge grandfather clock chimed midnight, and your blood ran cold. You were out of time. You dropped the pen and paper and ran for the window. Behind you, you heard wood erupting as the door caved in. You covered your face with your hands and lunged, glass shattering beneath you, darkness before your eyes, and a daunting howl ringing in your ears._

**Author's Note:**

> This story is one that I had to write for my English class senior year of high school. I'd like to think it's a unique concept, where you get flashes of the future and the present and have to piece the whole story together yourself. It's most likely not, but I enjoyed writing it in this style so enjoy. Feel free to point out any spelling or grammar errors, criticism is appreciated. I might go back one day and make this longer and more drawn out, as it was an English essay with a page limit. Hope you liked it.


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